Fluther: What kind of animal could a pirate have, besides a parrot?

What kind of animal could a pirate have, besides a parrot?

Asked by Berserker (33548

) June 23rd, 2012
42 responses
“Great Question” (10

)

Just a silly question for a late weekend night. We always see pirates with parrots. Where does that come from, anyways? Did pirates usually have parrots as pets? What if the pirates traveled to a place the poor parrot couldn’t hack? That’s not really the point, although information about the whole pirate/parrot thing and where it comes from could be cool; I just read that parrots were used as investment in case a pirate was hurtin’ for cash but rather, what other animal would be neat for a pirate to have?
I’m thinking maybe a hyper little monkey that climbs all over its owner all day, a creepy raven that just perches there and stares, or a really old and battle scarred, tough ass fluffy cat. Maybe a pitbull. What about Vikings? holy crap I just learned Vikings actually used bears as household pets

Apparently pirates kept assorted animals with them for practical reasons, but let’s go for the romanticized pirate approach; what’s a cool animal companion they could have besides a parrot? Not that I have anything about parrots, mind you. You know, in case someone decides to lay down the law, and ignore my skull flag.

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Topics: fun, pets, fiction, stories, pirates, suggestions, ideas, truth, legends, Xenomorph

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Answers

Monkey – like Jack Sparrow :)

Ponderer983 (6416

)“Great Answer” (2

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Ladies

bolwerk (10337

)“Great Answer” (3

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A pet rat. Lots of them available on a pirate ship.

Sunny2 (18842

)“Great Answer” (5

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A roach. Or yes, a monkey. NO! A SHARK.

blueberry_kid (5957

)“Great Answer” (5

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@Sunny2 I read that pirates had cats on board, to get rid of rats.

@blueberry_kid Hell yeah, love the shark idea. They could ride it! I’d ride a shark.

Berserker (33548

)“Great Answer” (4

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An ant eater, in the hope that it would protect his wooden leg from termites. ;-p

Brian1946 (32284

)“Great Answer” (2

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@Symbeline I guess I was thinking of illustrations I’ve seen of pirates . . . . nary a cat pictured among them. Besides, cats supposedly hate water (although I’ve watched personal cat friends play with water dribbling from a tub faucet.). The pirate could have one of those tiny monkeys, smaller than your hand.

Sunny2 (18842

)“Great Answer” (1

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@Brian1946 Lmao XD

@Sunny2 Yeah, I don’t know how true it is or not if cats hate water…(mine sure did when it got fleas, and I had to give him a bath with special anti flea shampoo) it’s certainly seen a lot in cartoons and all. But when I was a kid I knew this asshole who threw a cat into the river. :( Fortunately, cats seem to be extremely proficient swimmers. I’ve never seen any land animal swim that fast in my life.

And what the heck kinda crazy monkey is that small? Must look cute as hell though. :D

Berserker (33548

)“Great Answer” (1

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A shoulder perching Vulture. That should put the wind up opponents as well as mucking up the dusty frock coat!

SomeoneElse (2708

)“Great Answer” (2

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A vulture! Kick ass idea. :)

Berserker (33548

)“Great Answer” (1

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An aardvaark? Aaarrrr….

Um, did you know that France has a Pirate Party ? I did a triple take when I saw a poster for it recently.

bookish1 (13159

)“Great Answer” (4

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I think every pirate should have a pet siren.

athenasgriffin (5974

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@athenasgriffin : But then, they’d need to put wax in their ears and lash themselves to the prow of the ship, no?

bookish1 (13159

)“Great Answer” (2

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Tiny monkeys. Now I wish I were a pirate. I want a tiny monkey!

Also, a bat would be kind of cool. He could hang upside down from the pirate’s hat.

augustlan (47745

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Fleas and Lice.

ragingloli (51980

)“Great Answer” (3

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@ragingloli They would have to be mutant ones, huge and grim (Leas or flice?) with foul tempers, and cutlasses strapped to them. I’d be scared.

SomeoneElse (2708

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@Augustlan: tiny monkeys pardon me while I spontaneously combust from the cuteness! But I doubt they’re butch enough for pirates.

bookish1 (13159

)“Great Answer” (2

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A golden lab. They luz the water.

PurpleClouds (1058

)“Great Answer” (2

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A Chihuahua.

rebbel (35550

)“Great Answer” (3

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@rebbel Very bold suggestion as they are feisty little dogs if prone to shaking, hence the expression, in this case, ‘Well, Shiver my timbers!’

SomeoneElse (2708

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I don’t know if it is true, but it sounds good.

“Our most representative image of a pirate is Treasure Island’s Long John Silver, the one-legged seaman who is accompanied on his travels by the parrot Cap’n Flint. Trade in exotic animals was active during the age of piracy, which supports the theory that parrots were captured for their inherent value, if not company. Seamen were known to have brought birds back as souvenirs of their tropical voyages, as pets and to sell them in the London bird markets.

“Parrots were also sometimes used as presents to bribe officials.”

http://piratemaster.wetpaint.com/page/Pirate+Fact+%26+Fiction

bkcunningham (18496

)“Great Answer” (2

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How about this little guy? He doesn’t look too dangerous…
But watch out when he gets mad. You don’t wanna be on his bad side! And I think Tasmanian Devils have that name for a reason.
I found this little book written for children but it has a few interesting things in it about the origin of the myth coming from the book Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. He admitted that he took the idea from the book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.

Interestingly he says it was mostly the South American pirates who kept the parrots. They got them from places like Belize where they were plentiful. They also sold Cockatoos. Imagine what kind of money they would get from this cockatoo!

It agrees with the idea that they were sold in bird markets in London and Paris and possibly given as bribes.

Earthgirl (11214

)“Great Answer” (2

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A rat

basstrom188 (3985

)“Great Answer” (1

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a monkey and a dog who looks like the Target dog, or the one from Lil Rascals

jazmina88 (11652

)“Great Answer” (2

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@Earthgirl Too elaborate. It’s a pirate, you’ll need a simple pet.

blueberry_kid (5957

)“Great Answer” (1

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I wouldn’t mess with a pirate who had a pet saber toothed tiger.

digitalimpression (9920

)“Great Answer” (1

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@digitalimpression Too right!

SomeoneElse (2708

)“Great Answer” (0

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Falcon
Iguana
Lemur

Neizvestnaya (22662

)“Great Answer” (2

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He often wears a beard you could lose a badger in, so there you have it.

ucme (50047

)“Great Answer” (1

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@augustlan LOL a bat. Also those small monkeys rule.

@Earthgirl @bkcunningham Yeah, the idea that they sold the birds seems about right…I wonder if they ever imported peacocks.

@ragingloli Yeah I think those were probably defaults that come with being a pirate. I’d add mouth fungi to the list. XD i thought for sure you’d mention something like an octopus though

@ucme Hey yeah, badgers and wolverines are some pretty crazy buggers…good pirate animal. :D

Berserker (33548

)“Great Answer” (2

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A parrot with a wooden leg and an eyepatch?

flutherother (34555

)“Great Answer” (3

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A snake:
– doesn’t need a lot of space to move around
– eats rats that are commonly on board ship
– looks bad-ass.

GladysMensch (6506

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I think a Crab would be a cool side kick. It could reach out and give titty twisters to other pirates. Maybe this is what caused them to say “HAR HAR”. LOL

Only138 (4643

)“Great Answer” (3

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A liger, Gosh!

King_Pariah (11484

)“Great Answer” (2

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How about a shaaarrrrk?

bkcunningham (18496

)“Great Answer” (2

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An armadillo.

Adirondackwannabe (36713

)“Great Answer” (1

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That’s Arrr madillo, @Adirondackwannabe.

bkcunningham (18496

)“Great Answer” (1

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@bkcunningham Sorry, forgot to say it like a pirate. XD

Adirondackwannabe (36713

)“Great Answer” (1

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Yall forgot to say mate at the end, mateeys.

@Only138 LMAO a fuckin crab?? I love that lol. :D

@King_Pariah Yeah, why didn’t I think of that? How about a tigerion? XD

Berserker (33548

)“Great Answer” (1

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“Ah, my dildo” This pirate is a kinky bastard.

ucme (50047

)“Great Answer” (1

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Honey Badger is totally badass.

dabbler (18896

)“Great Answer” (3

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I’ve seen that documentary nearly ten years ago, where they were talking about it. Some bozos voiced their own commentary over it, but I have to admit it’s kinda funny.

Berserker (33548

)“Great Answer” (1

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What kind of animal could a pirate have, besides a parrot?

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